


A Spark To Ignite

by Punkskully



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars episode Vlll: The Last Jedi
Genre: F/M, Reylo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 08:05:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13026786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punkskully/pseuds/Punkskully
Summary: *TLJ SPOILERS*This fic will explore the aftermath of TLJ and the relationship between Rey and Kylo and his journey to reclaiming Ben Solo. This will be a redemption fic ! It is a WIP as I’m still recovering from the aftermath of TLJ.I hope everyone enjoys this and I’ll be adding to the summary and tags once I’m a few chapters in.This fic will be REYLO centric, will most likely include smut and will 100% include force face time.





	1. Chapter 1

He doesn’t know how much time has passed but he does know that there is not much left in his quarters that he hasn’t destroyed. He collapses to the floor and attempts to catch his breath— his throat was raw from screaming and his eyes burned from tears. He feels weak. He feels out of control. In a matter of moments he had destroyed his former master. Killed Snoke and felt the weight lifted from his oppressive power— but in that same moment he lost her. He thinks about her hand outstretched to his, The look in her eyes and the hope she shows him. Her belief that he will join her — that she will return the son of Han and Leia back home. She sensed his hesitation— in fact she probably knew what he would do before he did it. The disappointment that radiated off of her when he refused— he slipped out of the memory when he felt his hand smash into the floor beside him. The pain felt real. He held onto that.

If anyone on board heard the destruction they kept their distance because no one had disturbed him. He slammed his head against the wall behind him— the pain was all he could focus on. He let out a silent sob before reaching out to her. 

...”Rey” , he felt for her. Felt for the tug that was somehow connected to that place right between his ribs. Though the connection was new it felt like it had been there his whole life. This connection Snoke claimed to have created had lingered long after his death. 

“Please, please Rey”, he whispered this— hoping that if he said the name out loud it might evoke something tangible, that it might bring her to him. The only thing it did was burn. His voice was hoarse and saying her name felt like drinking fire. Another punishment he thought. Of course her name would not bring him any solace. She was gone. Closed off from him. He was alone. For the first time in a long time he was truly alone. 

He let out an uneven breath, and closed his eyes.

His body ached and his mind could not focus. He was weak. He was so weak. He was powerless, and above everything else he was a fraud. His breathing will not settle and his impatience with himself is beyond anger. He is disgusted with his inability to find control. The black gloves that once covered his hands were torn, blood tattered remnants —a reminder of who he was— who he used to be. Kylo Ren, Master of The Knight’s Of Ren, The apprentice to The Supreme Leader. 

—But that person was dead now. He killed that version of himself, just like he killed Ben Solo. Just like he killed Snoke. He was no one now.

And now he was truly alone. 

***

Rey could still feel him. Could still feel the pull of him even when they were half a galaxy apart. Her anger boiled inside of her. He could not be saved. She was sure of it now. 

“...Rey”, he was there. Like a faint whisper on the wind she heard his voice. “Please”, she felt his pleading— the lonely and familiar ache of being alone. She resisted the urge to respond. She pushed his voice away, she reached inside and locked that voice out. She could not allow this connection to continue. Ben…was gone. Kylo Ren was the only one left and she could not bring him back to the light. No one could. 

***

He had sat in utter silence for hours. He had finally managed to disassociate enough to feel nothing. To focus on that nothing and to feel nothing. He had nothing, and it was only a matter of time before he lost whatever loyalty he had in The First Order. He knew sooner or later Hux would turn them all and take his control. But right now he would not dwell on that thought, instead he stared out the window of his chamber to the vastness of space. The nothingness of the outer rim. 

The door let out a chime and at first it didn’t register but then a small *beep beep* followed that made Kylo startle. The droid had somehow managed to open the door to his chamber. He was on the verge of ripping the machine apart when something happened. 

He recognized that sound, that familiar set of binary that had been a companion all those years ago. But this droid was a first order droid, how could it possibly be ...

“R2?” His voice was less than a whisper “is that you?

The droid made a tentative noise and hurried into the room, the sound of the door swooshing behind him. The droid made his way over to Kylo and let out a string of noises that Kylo could barely keep us with.  
“But how”  
“You what”  
“Her idea”  
Her, he knew meant, Leia— his mother and before he could say another word the droid opened up a compartment on his side panel, inside was a small data chip with a familiar signia. The resistance. R2 let out a beep of encouragement and moved closer to Kylo, urging him to take the chip. 

Everything had changed in a matter of moments again. He was a million different versions of himself —constantly being reborn someone new. Who was Kylo Ren? Who is Ben Solo— did he have a place in this story anymore. Did he deserve yet another chance to change the course of this war.  
“...Rey. Can you hear me?”

Kylo reaches his hand out to the droid. 

***

Leia knew this plan was a long shot. She knew that the odds were not in her favor, but she held hope that R2 would at least get her message to her son. She rested her hand on the powered down shell of R2D2– though his physical body was here his operating system had been uploaded to a B6 unit onboard the First Order ship that BB8, Finn and Rose had infiltrated. She had not told the others about her plan because she knew it made no sense and though they would not question her out right she knew they would think it. She did not want to admit that her focus was still on bringing her son home— on saving him from himself. She sat on board the falcon in a room to herself and remembered the last time she had seen him. Not Kylo Ren but her son, Ben. He was young, a child and she promised him it would be alright. She had just come from arguing with Han and she could see it on her young sons face that he was frightened. 

“You will be trained as a Jedi, Ben. Your uncle will show you the ways of the force.” 

“But why can’t I stay here, with you? Why can’t you show me ? Why do I have leave here, Momma?”. She reached for her son and pulled him into an embrace. She rocked him back and forth and squeezed him tighter. “Because I’m not a Jedi”, she said quietly. “I don’t know how to help you anymore.” She has said this to him without speaking aloud. She was now speaking to him directly through the Force. Ben had uncoiled from the hug but Leia kept her hands on his shoulders. Tears were streaming down her young sons face. “I don’t want to be alone. I’m afraid.” His voice was small, an almost inaudible whisper. 

Leia placed her hands on her sons face and said firmly, “You will never be alone.” 

*** 

Kylo had managed to pull himself off the floor and made his way over to the only thing left in the room that hadn’t been destroyed. A single chair that had been thrown against the wall when he’d first entered the room. He flipped the chair around and placed it on the floor and took a seat. R2 had followed him and was waiting patiently for his next direction. 

Kylo fingered the data chip— R2 made a small noise again that made Kylo look over to the droid. The next few moments felt like an eternity and for the first time in his life he decided to not think. He handed the data chip back to R2, “Play it.” 

Eagerly R2 took the data chip and inserted it into his play drive. 

The image projected was of Leia. She spoke immediately. 

“Ben, it’s me. If you are watching this that means you haven’t destroyed, R2 and I’m sure he’s thankful for that—“ R2 made a sound in agreement. “If you are listening to this that means you still feel the call to the light. You can still feel me. Ben, I will never lose hope. I ...” the image of Leia turned away to choke back tears. “I love you. You are not alone. Please Ben, you and Rey are our only hope in destroying this darkness. Please listen to the Force. It will guide you back to me. We will find each other.” In the back of the recording he could hear the sounds of war— the canons firing, the blasters. It was almost too much to remember the battle that had just ended. “Ben, I am with you. I forgive you. Can you forgive me?” The projection ended abruptly, and R2 slowly rolled towards him. 

Kylo was not prepared to face the reckoning of his past, but he was prepared to let Kylo Ren die. Kylo Ren had died the second he chose Rey over his master. He was ready to face his future head on. 

*** 

“... Rey, can you hear me?” Rey opens her eyes and immediately feels the pull of him. But something is different— something she hadn’t felt before. 

“Kylo ?” Shes whispers.


	2. The Dark Is Generous, Isn’t It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow— thank you all for the kind words and encouragement! I was not expecting the response but I am so happy you guys like it! If there’s anything in particular— reylo headcanons, characters you’d like to see come into play — etc I’m totally open so please do not hesitate to add your two cents <3  
> Also if you’d like to stay in touch you can find me on tumblr @ existentialcomfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dark is generous.  
> Its first gift is concealment: our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins, our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But the greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths, but in hiding from the truths of others.The dark protects us from what we dare not know.Its second gift is comforting illusion: the ease of gentle dreams in night’s embrace, the beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in the day’s harsh light. But the greatest of its comforts is the illusion that dark is temporary: that every night brings a new day. Because it’s the day that is temporary.Day is the illusion.Its third gift is the light itself: as days are defined by the nights that divide them, as stars are defined by the infinite black through which they wheel, the dark embraces the light, and brings it forth from the center of its own self.With each victory of the light, it is the dark that wins.  
> The dark is generous, and it is patient.It is the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt.The dark can be patient, because the slightest drop of rain will cause those seeds to sprout.The rain will come, and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow, and it is the clouds above them, and it waits behind the star that gives them light.The dark’s patience is infinite.Eventually, even stars burn out.  
> The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins.It always wins because it is everywhere.It is in the wood that burns in your hearth, and in the kettle on the fire; it is under your chair and under your table and under the sheets on your bed. Walk in the midday sun, and the dark is with you, attached to the soles of your feet.The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.  
> The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.  
> Love is more than a candle.  
> Love can ignite the stars.  
> ― quote from the Star Wars: Episode III novelization by Matthew Stover

 

When Ben was a child he spent most of his time alone— he didn’t mind this at first. At first it gave him peace, he was tired of the questions. Tired of the children in his classes asking about _The Great General Organa, if they could see the Falcon— meet The Jedi Master, Luke— the child of Darth Vader. If they could see the resistance hero Han Solo._ The myths and legends of his family felt like a sand bags weighing him down. The attention he never wanted but was forced upon him fueled his isolation.

“He’s just shy, Han. He’s not like you. He just can’t make friends with every scoundrel in the galaxy”

“Oh come on, Leia, I didn’t mean that. All I’m saying is he shouldn’t be spending all his time alone! He’s a damn, Jedi— the kids should be begging him to be friends”

“Han, you know that’s not how this works. Kids are only fascinated until that excitement turns to fear. Fear of a child with powers beyond his control. You know how …”her voice lowered as she stepped towards her husband, “you know how powerful he is. He doesn’t understand it yet. He afraid”

“Afraid ? Afraid? What does he have to fear, Leia. He’s our son. He has us— he has Luke”

“He also has the weight of every mistake we, the skywalkers— his bloodline has ever made. He has our failures on his back.”

***

When Ben was a child he would hear stories about the Jedi. Hear the idolization of their cause from the pilots on their base. He would wander around and hear them whisper, “That’s him… that’s Solo’s Kid.”  
“Is that?”  
“That’s Leia’s son.”

It felt like the universe had opened its eyes and focused on him. He would hide. Sometimes in the storage containers filled with food rations. He would practice levitating the vegetables up and down— soon he felt bold enough to send the items he levitated out to the planets creatures that had come out of hiding to look for food. He would spend everyday gaining their trust. Feeding them slowly at first until one day he could pet them. This went on for months, soon the two creatures were friends. Ben spent everyday with his new found friend.

Most of Ben Solo’s days at this point were shrouded in cruelty. The isolation that was created by his name, his legacy and parentage has forced the children to shun the boy. They would follow the young boy home and spit. “You’re fathers just a smuggler.”

_“He was no hero. And you’re no Jedi”_

_“You’re nobody.”_

He had almost made it home when something inside of him took control. _You are powerful. You could pull the air from their lungs. Show them what you truly are._

His hand extended out to the children and the power inside of him ignited.

  
He had run home only to find that his father was gone. Chewie, the Falcon— they were gone. He called out for his mother and found her sitting next to the window staring off into the sky.

“He’s gone”, she spoke without looking at to her son. Her voice was soft and he could sense her pain.

He ran. He ran as fast as he could until he couldn’t breathe anymore. His last few steps felt like walking through mud until he collapsed to the ground and breathed in the soil.

He screamed. He screamed until his voice was raw. He cried until there was nothing left inside of him. Pulling himself off the ground he surveyed the area— where was he? He did not recognize this place. He had spent weeks wondering this wood and had never ventured into this area. It was dark, cold and dying. The trees were black and their bark was wet. The ground where he had pulled himself from was covered in dead leaves and twigs. It was decay.

_”Oh yes, the force is very strong with you” the voice growled._

_“Who are you?” Bens voice felt small._

_“I am your destiny my child.”_

***

Rey awoke suddenly and sat straight up in her cot. She sat up so quickly she managed to smack her head on the metal grating above her. She pressed a hand to her forehead and made a few groaning noises before sliding her legs off the bed. She sat on the edge for several moments just rubbing her forehead— just what she needed was another bruise— Finn would laugh tomorrow when she told him how she got it. She let herself smile at the thought of Finn. Her friend. He first real, true friend. She suddenly felt the sharp grating feeling of guilt swell up inside of her— she would have to tell Finn what happened. Everything that happened between them since the last time they spoke felt like an eternity. With Luke, with Kylo. There was so much to say and she hopes Finn will understand. She thought about how she could explain the bond she had with Kylo. How she had seen him, felt him there on the island. How she had reached for his hand… reached across the universe to feel him.  
  
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn’t think of him anymore, not like that— not how she had on the island. He was her enemy and she couldn’t let that monster in. She wouldn’t let herself be drawn back to him.

 _Unless_.

She felt him there again—there was no words just, a familiar feeling. The tug of some unknown string attached to her body. She felt the draw to him even now. She hesitated to acknowledge the feeling.

“Why? Why won’t you let me be free of him?”, she says this out loud hoping for some kind of answer. Some kind of Force intervention to give her all the answer. If the force was bringing them together it certainly could hear her questions for why? The room was silent. She did not receive an answer— just the creaking noises of an old freighter.

Rey brings her hands to her head and runs her fingers through her hair— pulling the remainder of her buns down. She let her hair fall and continues to brush through the tangles. She should probably shower but she wasn’t convinced she could completely control when he could show up. A smile crosses her face as she remembers how she stumbled upon him shirtless.

_The way he had stood there in defiance of her pleas for him to dress._

She had never seen another man without his dressing clothes on— it startled her but excited her in ways she was not entirely sure about yet. She pressed her smile down into a line and brought her knees up against her chest. She felt exhausted but had no real desire to try to sleep. When she slept all she could see was his face— how he looked at her with pleading eyes to stay. She lets her thoughts wonder back to hope, to redemption. To how Han and Leia failed their son. What if she could get through to him? What if this was not the end of their journey? What if she could bring him back? She just had to get him away from the First Order. She closed her eyes and felt for him. “Kylo?”

Their connection was something that still didn’t make complete sense to her, and of course the only person she could ask about it was gone now.

Snoke has said he orchestrated the entire connection but why could she still feel him now— but something felt different— warmer. The rage and anger she had felt when he reached for her earlier was ...gone.

***

He felt her. Reaching back for him. Searching the stars for the connection between them. “Kylo?” He heard her voice and focused in. “Rey, can you hear me?” But there was no response. “Rey?” He stood and paced the floor. He opened and closed his hands over and over to calm himself— this rarely worked but he needed to focus. He needed to speak to her— but something wasn’t letting him through.

Kylo felt panic rise inside of him. _What had he done? How had he gotten into this disaster— as always the only one to blame was himself. He betrayed his purpose, his master, his destiny— for a junker._

— _no not a junker, a formidable opponent, a raw force user— his equal in this world._

He let his mind fly with images of her fighting the Praetorian guard, the way she cut down whatever was in her path. She would have cut him down too, he thought. Yes, she would have.

_The way they had locked eyes._  
_The way she had called to him_

“Ben” that cursed name. The name always called to him. It ripped through his body and stuck to the side of his ribs.

At the end of the battle the only thing left was them. _They were together. Alone, but not entirely alone like they were used to feeling._ The energy that flowed like a live wire around them. The power of their strength. The electricity of what they had done burned. They had survived. She had turned the tide.

_But the dark is generous and it is patient and will fill you with power and you will be drunk on the illusion that you control it._

He had been a fool— to think that he could change her, perused her to his side. The man who stood before her then was not worthy of her comradery. He had been blinded by his own ambition —something that had always been his folly. He regrets it now. Regrets that he hadn’t taken her hand.

The moment causes Kylo to let out a groan that was immediately responded to by R2.

“No, I know what I need to do.”  
“I was weak. I could have left this all behind had I just left with her.”

The droid chirps with sorrow.

“...yes,” he pauses for a moment before saying her name. “Rey”

The moment was upon him and he could no longer put off what he needed to do. He knew he only had one choice, one right choice. He could ignore the call— ignore what he had for so long. That draw to something other than the path he had forced himself on. He had spent so many years chasing this cause. Destroying the Jedi. He thought he knew his path but now...now his path was different, Something new all together. The Jedi must die— but they would also be reborn into something new.

The weight of his new choices were making him feel dizzy. The room felt infinitely larger than it had moments ago. It expanded and moved like light speed toward a single source— pure light— like the doubles suns of a galaxy far away, Two brilliant balls of light entering supernova and just as quickly as he was there he shot back through space to the old familiarity of his chamber room.

He collapsed into the chair and braced himself on the arm rest. He could not explain what he had seen, or even make sense of what was shown to him but the force had spoken and he felt an energy inside of him that warmed him all the way though. He had felt exhausted earlier, weak and defeated. But now he felt ease, comfort… contentment. It was overwhelming— but he breathed through the confusion. He knew then what he must do. It was becoming clearer to him now he had to leave. He looked down to R2 who was already beeping out chirps of excitement.

“Don’t get excited yet, we have to make it off this ship first”

***

Rey had attempted to mediate but couldn’t concentrate. Her headache was beginning to annoy her, she considered going to the med bay to grab something to ease the ache but felt too embarrassed that someone would ask what happened. She had never used medicine before on Jakku, it was too expensive and just couldn’t be considered when she could barely scrounge up enough parts to afford rations. Jakku felt light years away— like an old nightmare she could hardly remember the details of now. She could not go back there— that junkyard, that hell. It had been her prison and now that she knew the truth of her parents she only looked back to that time with anger and disappointment. She tries not to dwell on the anger but it’s consuming. She thinks of her parents and how they sold her for drink. She had waited for them to find her, had convinced herself they would come back for her. The anger was enveloping. She wanted to crush them. To make them feel small and afraid. To show them she was powerful and that she didn’t need them. She was strong with the force and she could rip the air from their lungs if she wanted to.

Rey caught her breath and unclenched her hands and watched as the objects around the room dropped to the floor and the shaking subsided. Her face felt wet. She touched a hand to her cheek and realized she had been crying. The door to her cabin opened abruptly and in the doorway stood—

“General…”, Rey’s voice was shaky as she spoke to the woman. “Rey, I believe we’re on closer terms than that. Please call me Leia.” The woman made her way into the room and quickly gestured to the space next to Rey on the bed. Rey smiled weakly to Leia as she sat down beside her.

They sat quietly for several moments. The General seemed to look fondly around the room like she was reliving a distant memory.  
“This was his room you know”, Leia finally spoke. Her voice was light as she turned her face to look at Rey. “He would hang these tiny lights from the hull so when the lights went out it looked like a galaxy.” She smiles “you know he didn’t just hang them randomly, no he had to make a perfectly accurate star map.” A small laugh escapes her mouth. “That’s what I like remember about him.”

Rey thinks that if she can look closely enough at the ceiling she could still see the knots of string Ben placed to hang his lights.

“Did you know that Luke tried to kill him?” She couldn’t stop herself from asking. “Did you know how powerful he was when you sent him away?”

Leia was not offended by the question but instead had a thoughtful look about her. “I knew. But I didn’t want to admit what I saw. I thought Luke could save him— he saved our father … I just thought he would be our last hope. We had tried with Ben for so long but his powers were beyond what any of us could handle. I admit that I… that we…” she pauses for a moment and lets out a sigh before continuing. “Han and I did not handle the situation well but you must know and believe me that I did not know that Luke would hurt him. I felt it… when it happened. It felt like my chest had been torn open and something inside of me was ripped out. I promised him that he would never be alone but he was. I was too busy to worry over him.” She turns to face the metal pole that holds the cot in place and rubs her fingers against its surface. “I let him down then. I won’t let him down again.”

***

Kylo had no idea what he was doing. This was not a normal thing for him. He always had his orders, his plans. But this was different— this path was pulling him so strongly that he did not have time to react, let alone question it. He stood quickly and made his way towards the door. R2 followed suit spouting out beeps as he trailed behind the Man. Before exiting the room Kylo realized he had almost walked out without his lightsaber. He reached for it and the weapon sailed across the room into his hand. He marched on through the corridor with the droid on his heel.

Kylo felt acutely aware that all eyes were on him. Every corner he rounded workers, troopers and droids averted his gaze. Normally he would not have given this another thought but now that he was on the brink of abandoning The First Order he was slightly on edge. They rounded a corridor and almost ran into two patrol troopers— they immediately apologized to the,” Supreme Leader” and moved quickly from his sight. R2 scurried up beside him with an endless stream of chirps that Kylo answered breathlessly.

“I don’t really know, R2”  
“I know that doesn’t help.”  
“You’re just as foul mouthed as ever.”  
“I am not.”  
“I will power you down if you don’t shut up”

“Supreme Leader, you have ventured out of your chamber. How was your nap”, the sneer across Hux’s face showed how much he enjoyed pressing his buttons. Kylo thought of how easy it would be to kill him. _To snuff him out right here in this corridor. How he could just ...squeeze his hands together and choke out the last breath he took._

But the rage subsided and he stared at the red haired man and simply said, “Your fly is down, Hux.” And simply continued down the corridor. R2 moved quickly behind him and purposefully knocked into Hux’s legs temporarily sending the man into a series of awkward movements to regain his balance.

Hux quickly looked down to his trousers and zipped the opening closed. He fumbled with the clasp and yelled, “ah, ugh, That is High Commander, Hux. … Ren—Did you hear me!”

But Kylo had already made his way around the corner and didn’t give the commander another thought.

Nothing could stop Kylo from getting off this ship.

 

 


End file.
